x
Breaking News
More () »

Need to Know: Why Modesto's water rates keep going up

The City of Modesto wants to increase water rates by 9 percent in 2019.

If you live in Modesto, prepare to pay more for your water.

Here are five things to know about why Modesto water rates continue to increase:

  1. Rates are set to increase by 9 percent.
  2. This is part of the city's five-year plan to increase water rates by a total of 63 percent, it began back in 2016.
  3. Next year alone, the city is estimating $3 million of additional funds will come out of this increase.
  4. That money is being used to upgrade their facilities, replace water mains throughout town and prevent any sort of water contamination.
  5. If you can't afford this increase, the city has programs in place to help seniors, disabled and low-income families. City council is voting on this increase Tuesday night along with a decision to increase the discount for families in need up from $10 to $15 a month.

"Any rate increase is never easy on our residents and we don't like to have to go back year after year and ask for this rate increase," Thomas Reeves, a spokesman for the City of Modesto said. "We want to make sure that our water is clean, is safe and is reliable for our city residents."

This comes after a 25 percent increase in 2016 and no increase in 2017.

"There is much work to be done in our capital improvement program in utilities and primarily, it addresses the contamination that we need to be working hard to address in our city and throughout the area," he said.

In a report to city council, the director of utilities said a fourth of the city's existing water supply wells are offline right now because of things like arsenic, nitrates, and uranium, requiring either repairs or replacements.

And 40 percent of the city's active wells were installed more than 50 years ago.

"A lot of it has to do with upgrading our facilities, making sure that we are rehabilitating or completely replacing main water lines throughout the city and that in turn addresses the contamination issue that we never want to see in the city," he said.

The city estimates this increase will bring in an additional $3 million to cover these projects.

"I am ok with it because we're going to pay for it regardless if I'm ok or not," Richard Rosua, a Modesto ratepayer said.

Some people told ABC10 they're paying enough already, others are willing to pay more for the piece of mind that their water is clean.

"Our cost is going up but the good thing about it is, they're going to re-do the water treatment system, or the piping and stuff to the water so that's the good thing," Rosua said.

If you can't afford this increase, the city has programs in place to help seniors, disabled and low-income families. For more information on those programs, click here.

The city will take a vote on this Tuesday evening at 5:30 p.m. in addition to increasing the discount for families in need from $10 to $15.

Before You Leave, Check This Out